HISTORY IN THE NEWS
Dedicated to the background of contemporary events around the world.
Dedicated to the background of contemporary events around the world.
Espionage, Hacking, Privacy, Surveillance
IN BRIEF: In the new age of the internet, there are few if any legal or historical precedents for cases involving military and security intelligence analysts in control of on line secret data.
IN THE NEWS: FORMER ARMY INTELLIGENCE ANALYST BRADLEY MANNING IS CONVICTED OF 36 CHARGES UNDER THE ESPIONAGE ACT BUT US FOUND INNOCENT OF THE MOST SERIOUS CHARGE OF 'AIDING THE ENEMY.'
THE FACTS:
-there is no evidence that Manning spied with the intention of aiding the enemy or of defecting to the enemy. One needs only look at the history of Americans who aided the enemy for political or monetary motives.
-Manning had nothing personal to gain by releasing to the internet masses of documentation exposing misdeeds of the US military in Iraq.
-however it is possible that his intention of exposing US wrong doing could cause collateral damage to units in the field and the US war effort.
-the exposure of secret government documents on the internet, with the founding of Wikileaks by Julian Assange in 2006, is an unprecedented historical development in matters of security and intelligence.
- Manning was a soldier of gay orientation and prejudice on the part of other soldiers and of the legal system may have had a role in his treatment in jail and the zeal to convict him.
-one has to keep in mind the more extreme case of Alfred Dreyfus, the French Jewish Army officer who in 1894 was framed as a spy by antisemitic officers.
IN HISTORY:
+ 1780- Benedict Arnold defects from the Americans to the British during the American Revolutionary War.
+ 1894- Sept- A French spy, working as a cleaning woman at the office of the German military attache in Paris, discovered an unsigned note in a wastebasket describing secret tests of new French artillery guns. French intelligence soon accused Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, the only Jewish officer who had access to the secret information. It later was found that the note had been written by Major Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy.
+ 1953- June 19- Julius (b.5/12/1918) and Ethel Rosenberg (b.9/28/1915), convicted of passing U.S. atomic secrets to the Soviet Union during World War II, were executed at Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, New York.
+ 1955- John Vassal, who was the naval attaché at the British Embassy in Moscow was jailed for eighteen years after spying for the Soviet Union.
+ 1964- Nov. The US HONETOL committee was formed to look into the question of a mole in the CIA, based on information from Soviet defector Anatoly Golitsin. It was in existence to April 1965, and consisted of James Jesus Angleton, Newton S. Miler and Bruce Solie from the CIA's Office of Security, FBI domestic intelligence chief William C. Sullivan, FBI CIA liaison Sam Papich and two others. The investigations damaged many careers including that of case officer Richard Kovich (1926-2006).
+ 1987- Jonathan Pollard is convicted of passing US intelligence to the Israelis.
RELEVANT DATES for Bradley Manning Guilty of Espionage.
1780- Benedict Arnold defects from the Americans to the British during the American Revolutionary War.
1791 - American Bill of Rights guarantees individual freedom.
The Dreyfus Affair.
1894- Sept- A French spy, working as a cleaning woman at the office of the German military attache in Paris, discovered an unsigned note in a wastebasket describing secret tests of new French artillery guns. French intelligence soon accused Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, the only Jewish officer who had access to the secret information. It later was found that the note had been written by Major Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy.
1906- French Captain Alfred Dreyfus was found innocent in France of his earlier court-martial for spying for Germany. Dreyfus had served over 4 years on Devil’s Island before a top French court rehabilitated his name in what came to be called the Dreyfus Affair.
The National Security Agency.
1952- Armed Forces Security Agency (AFSA) becomes the National Security Agency. It is the successor to the State Department’s “Black Chamber” and other military code-breaking and eavesdropping operations dating back to the earliest days of telegraph and telephone communications.
U.S. Spies Convicted
1953- June 19- Julius (b.5/12/1918) and Ethel Rosenberg (b.9/28/1915), convicted of passing U.S. atomic secrets to the Soviet Union during World War II, were executed at Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, New York.
1955- John Vassal, who was the naval attaché at the British Embassy in Moscow was jailed for eighteen years after spying for the Soviet Union
Cold War Moles in the CIA.
1964- Nov. The US HONETOL committee was formed to look into the question of a mole in the CIA, based on information from Soviet defector Anatoly Golitsin. It was in existence to April 1965, and consisted of James Jesus Angleton, Newton S. Miler and Bruce Solie from the CIA's Office of Security, FBI domestic intelligence chief William C. Sullivan, FBI CIA liaison Sam Papich and two others. The investigations damaged many careers including that of case officer Richard Kovich (1926-2006).
1987- Jonathan Pollard is convicted of passing US intelligence to the Israelis.
Founding of Wikileaks.
2006- Dec. Julian Assange, a former Australian computer hacker, founds Wikileaks.Org.. The website aims to provide a platform for whistleblowers to post sensitive and secret political documents while keeping their identity anonymous.
Wikileaks Releasing Documents, Videos, Data.
2009- Nov.- Wikileaks releases a comprehensive archive of text pager messages recorded in the US on September 11,2001, the day when hijacked airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.
Bradley Manning in Iraq
2009-2010- Bradley Manning Manning in Baghdad, begins accessing and downloading classified diplomatic documents and communicating with WikiLeaks.
2010- Feb- Manning gives WikiLeaks video footage of a 2007 helicopter attack on Iraqi insurgents, according to the Washington Post. The footage shows civilians and two employees of Reuters news service being gunned down.
Wikileaks Releases Manning Material
2010- April-- Wikileaks releases Manning's downloaded video of a 2007 US military helicopter strike on Baghdad, Iraq, and the casualties that resulted from this. Bradley Manning, an American soldier, is charged and arrested for leaking the information.
2010- May 21- First AIM chats between Manning and ex-hacker Adrian Lamo, in which Manning ultimately confessed having sent the documents to WikiLeaks. Lamo contacts authorities.
Manning Arrested and Charged
2010- May 29- Manning is arrested in Baghdad.
2010- June- Manning detained at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, where he is placed in an eight-by-eight-foot cage for over a month, according to Wired magazine.
2010- June 6- U.S.files initial charges against Manning.
Wilileaks Releases Material on Afghanistan
2010- July 25- Wikileaks releases classified US military documents on the war in Afghanistan revealing details of civilian victims and alleged links between Pakistan and the Taliban.
Manning in Solitary Confinement
2010- July 29- Manning transferred to the United States and incarcerated at the Marine Corps brig in Quantico, Virginia, and held in solitary confinement for nine months.
Wikileaks Founder Assange Wanted for Rape in Sweden.
2010- Aug- A Swedish court issues an arrest warrant for Assange on charges of rape made by two Swedish women, who were also former employees of Wikileaks but then decides to postpone the warrant until November.
Wikileaks Exposes US Military Misdeeds
2010- Oct- Wikileaks releases some 400,000 accounts written by American soldiers from 2004 to 2009 revealing that the US decided to ignore cases of torture by Iraqi authorities on civilians.
Manning Charged with Aiding the Enemy.
2011- March- Manning’s charges updated to 22 violations, including “aiding the enemy.”
2011- April- Manning transferred to Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, where he is no longer held in solitary confinement.
Wikileaks hit by Financial Blockade
2011- Oct- Assange announces Wikileaks will temporarily stop publishing classified US diplomatic files to concentrate on fundraising for the website after incurring a 95% loss in its revenue due to a financial blockade by credit card companies such as MasterCard and Visa.
Argument over Manning's Charges and Treatment in Prison.
2011- Dec- Military investigator begins six-day Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a preliminary hearing, to determine if Manning’s case will go to trial. Manning’s lawyer asks Judge Col. Denise Lind to drop the charges due to the inhumane treatment of Manning at Quantico.
2012- Jan 8- Judge in Manning case refuses to drop charges.
2012- Feb 3- Military investigator determines that Manning will stand trial, followed by months of pretrial hearings.
2012- March- UN special rapporteur releases report accusing U.S. government of inhumane treatment of Manning. .
Assange Takes Refuge in Ecuadorean Ambrassy.
2012- June- Assange makes a plea for asylum in Ecuador after seeking refuge at the South American nation’s embassy in London. Ecuador’s foreign minister announced that they would be evaluating Assange’s request according to international law
Edward Snowden Reveals Immense NSA Abuse of Power.
2013- 20 May Edward Snowden an employee of defence contractor Booz Allen Hamilton at the National Security Agency, arrives in Hong Kong from Hawaii. He carries four laptop computers that enable him to gain access to some of the US government's most highly-classified secrets2013- June 3- Manning’s eight-week trial begins in Fort Meade, Md.
2013- July 25- Closing arguments delivered in Manning’s t
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